Epilogue
by Almarea-and-Alasse
Summary: Epilogue to "Only Time Will Tell". Glorfindel prepares to set sail for Valinor, disregarding his love for Alasse. See Prologue, included.
1. Prologue

Prologue to "Epilogue"

This is an epilogue to the story "Only Time Will Tell", which was never finished. That's why I am writing this prologue.

When "Only Time Will Tell" ended, we left Isis (aka Alasse) quite bewildered after a nice lesson with Lord Elrond (a la OFUM) in Rivendell, and Sasha (aka Almarea) with a bad knock on the head after a chance meeting with some nasty Black Riders. Not very far in, I'm afraid, so now I am going to give a summary of what was _supposed_ to happen, had we finished the fanfic.

Sasha and Isis spend approximately ten years in Rivendell, training to become warrior-maidens. Actually, I'm wrong- they spend five years there, and the other five traveling all over Middle-Earth, studying the battle-tactics, one might say, of Rohan, Lothlorien, and Gondor. In Gondor, 26-year-old Sasha meets Faramir, who falls in love with her, though her heart remains in Mirkwood with Legolas. Isis, who is 25 and still in Rivendell, discovers to her horror that her love, Lord Glorfindel, is supposed to marry some Elf-maiden from Lothlorien, and gives up ever loving a man again, since her heart is now broken.

In T.A. 3018, Isis goes to Bree, there to meet a group of hobbits, and also a man named Strider, a Ranger like herself, since her training was mostly done by the Dunedain. When they return to Rivendell, the Council of Elrond is called, in which Almarea and Alasse, as they are now known, insist that they should accompany the Fellowship, and Elrond insists that they mustn't.

Well! Isis gets a wee bit pissed off about that, and in the end, despite Elrond's preference for a company of Nine, to match the Nine Riders, the two girls are accepted into the Fellowship. Everything continues as it did in the Red Book, until the breaking of the Fellowship. Almarea is unfortunately kidnapped, along with Merry and Pippin, by the Isengarders, and Alasse accompanies the Three Companions in their quest to rescue them.

In Rohan, Alasse and Almarea are reunited, much to their relief, and Alasse meets Eomer, who falls for her, and soon, she for him. The two girls fight bravely in the battle of Helm's deep, and when Aragorn decides to take the Paths of the Dead, Alasse goes with him—Almarea stays with the Rohirrim.

Oh, by the way, I hadn't mentioned this, and I don't know whether this is actually in the chapters we've already written, but the _reason_ Isis and Sasha were taken to M-E is b/c of a prophecy made long before their birth, which said that they would help to destroy Sauron and his power—witness the chant that the Black Rider said before knocking Sasha out (Chapter 6, "The Master of Mordor"). So that's why Saruman told his Uruk-Hai to take Almarea (or Alasse, or both, preferably) along with the Halflings.

So everything goes as told in the Red Book, and when Aragorn and Arwen are married, Alasse finds out that Glorfindel has abandoned the Elf-maiden from Lorien, and so they get married and have a baby girl (Earasse), and take up residence in an area of land in Ithilien, not far from the Anduin. Almarea and Legolas also get married, and they start on their colony in the same area.

Then, three years later, disaster strikes. As it turns out, the ban placed on Morgoth an age or more before has expired, and another War begins, to conquer Morgoth and rid Middle-Earth of evil forever. Glorfindel and Legolas go off to war, leaving their wives and (in Glorfindel's case, daughter,) behind. While they are at war, Alasse has another baby, a boy this time, whom she names Goerfindel (which is something like a patronymic, in that it resembles the father's name, but has a different adjective; Glorfindel means "Locks of Gold", while "Goerfindel" means "Locks of Copper".

So this epilogue takes place after Glorfindel and Legolas come back from having helped to defeat Morgoth, and destroy him forever. Enjoy, and please review!

--Isis


	2. Part I

Glorfindel stood at the balustrade overlooking his home. His daughter and her friends shouted and laughed below him among the birches that encircled the house. Over the tops of the trees, their leaves turning gold in the autumn sunlight, he could see a faint sparkling, the faraway shine of the Anduin. And the Great River led to the Sea Glorfindel sighed. He felt old, as he had never felt before, in all his long life of more than five thousand years.

He heard a light tread on the stone behind him as Alasse came out of the house behind him, and he turned. She was holding her hair up with one hand and was fighting with the comb as it refused to enter the thick coil. One of the teeth broke, and the comb fell to the floor, shattering. Alasse put her hand down and stared at the shards of the comb at her feet. Her hair, freed from its coil, tumbled down her back, wreathing her face in an aureole of auburn waves as she bent to pick up the remains. She put them in her pocket and moved forward to where Glorfindel stood. He slipped his arm about her slim waist and they stood together for a while, gazing out over the peaceful land. Alasse was the first to speak.

"I'm glad it's over," she said. "First the Great War, then Morgoth... I'm glad you're back. Things are starting to resemble normality again." She ran a finger over the balustrade, and looked at Glorfindel.

He didn't reply, but took her hand and rubbed it, feeling with his thumb the callouses and scars covering his wife's palm. He lifted it and carefully kissed the exact center, then took Alasse in his arms and kissed her equally carefully. It was their first kiss since his return from the War against Morgoth a week before. Both had been unusually quiet during that time, almost avoiding each other's company, and Glorfindel felt all his pain rushing out at the feel of his wife's hands on his shoulders, at the touch of her soft mouth on his. He caressed her hair, running his fingertips through the silken waves, while Alasse put her fingertips to his face, sweeping them all around as though trying to memorize what he looked like.

At last, they pulled apart, hearing the cry of a small child: "Nana!" As Goerfindel finished climbing the steep path up to the balcony, Alasse bent down and picked the baby up, cuddling him close. Glorfindel brushed his fingers over his son's golden-red locks, fighting basck tears at the sight of the little boy looking at him with suspicion. After all, they had never met, Goerfindel having been born several months after his father's departure for war. In the trees he could hear Earasse singing a lay, her sweet voice carrying up to where he stood. Without thinking, he joined in, and Alasse hummed along.

_I ramar nwalkar maranwo,_

_mape tye haya nyello,_

_ar lende ore udin ya_

_ya uoiale nuva quantina._

The cruel wings of destiny

Carried you away from me

And left a heart unstilled

That never will be filled.

As their voices trailed away, an answering voice called out from in front of the house.

"Ho, Glorfindel, I would know your ugly tones anywhere; come out, I know you are there!"

Quickly, Alasse behind him, Glorfindel made his way to teh front porch, and looked out. On the road there stood a white stallion, bearing two riders. Glorfindel felt a grin spread over his face as he strode toward the road, arms outstretched to greet the newcomers.

"Hail, my prince," he called. My home would be yours, had you not insulted my singing voice."

Legolas roared with laughter as he slid off his horse and held out his hand for the yound woman riding sidesaddle behind him. She slipped off, her long skirts billowing around her, and waved to Alasse, and the two women embraced, laughing. Glorfindel and Legolas clasped hands, then reentered the house, while Alasse and Almarea, their arms linked, talked happily.


	3. Part II

That evening, after a good deal of eating and wine drinking, Legolas pushed his chair back and surveyed the company. Earasse' sat on the floor, playing with the figure of an oliphaunt that he had carved for her; Goerfindel lay in Almarea's arms, while she and Alasse talked; and Glorfindel was looking pensive. Legolas waited for a lull in his wife's conversation, then spoke.

"Glorfindel, my friend, it is time."

Immediately, the conversation ceased. Glorfindel looked intensely at him, while Almarea seemed unhappy, and Alasse appeared startled and apprehensive.

Glorfindel sighed. "I felt it earlier," he agreed. "The Sea calls."

"The Sea…" Alasse whispered. "And I cannot go."

"No." Glorfindel sensed the storm about to strike, as did Legolas and Almarea, who gave excuses about the time and left in search of a guestchamber. Almarea returned Goerfindel to Alasse, while Legolas bore Earass  away to her own bed.

Alasse stared at the baby now lying in her lap, his red curls glinting in the warm firelight, his thumb not quite reaching his mouth, and willed herself not to cry. It took her several minutes to calm herself, then: "This does not come as a complete surprise to me." She looked up and continued. "I knew when we wed that one day you would not be able to stay, that the Sea would call."

"But that knowledge eases not the pain," Glorfindel finished quietly.

"You know how to end my sentence, you know that I feel this way, and yet you do nothing about it?" she cried. "I pour out my pain on you, then! I pray that you, with your accursed immortality and wisdom, will one day realize what you do to me now!" She stood up with the baby, went upstairs, and returned a few minutes later, sitting in a chair closer to him. "What of your children, my lord?" she asked after a moment's silence. "Earasse has lived half her life without her father. And your son does not know you. You saw his face today, when you sang to him." Alasse turned toward Glorfindel pleadingly, but he continued to gaze resolutely into the fire. "I know it hurts you, for I heard the lay that you sang. It speaks to your longing for home. How can you feel thus while at war, and set sail for the Forever Lands a week after returning home?"

"I vowed to Legolas that we would go together," Glorfindel said disconsolately.

"And so you would break your marriage vows to me?"

Suddenly angry, he turned on her. "Damn it, Alasse, I cannot go back on this. You talk of my breaking your heart; what of my own? It is my right to leave this Middle-Earth, and my own bad judgement to marry a mortal. Leave me in peace!"

"Very well," said Alasse, her voice quiet and hurt. "Go then, my lord, if it your will. But I will not give you my blessing. I ask you only to think of your children, if you will ignore my pleas on my own behalf. Good night."


End file.
